Pat McKeough

A professional investment analyst for more than 30 years, Pat has developed a stock-selection technique that has proven reliable in both bull and bear markets. His proprietary ValuVesting System™ focuses on stocks that provide exceptional quality at relatively low prices. Many savvy investors and industry leaders consider it the most powerful stock-picking method ever created.

As early as 1980, Pat was recognized as #1 in the world of published investment advice by the Washington, DC–based Newsletter Publishers Association, and he was the first multi-year winner of The Globe and Mail’s stock picking contest.

Both CBS MarketWatch and The Hulbert Financial Digest recognized Pat as one of North America’s top stock analysts. The Wall Street Journal called him “one of only four investment newsletter advisors who have managed to serve their readers well over the long haul.”

A best-selling Canadian author, he wrote Riding the Bull, his 1993 book that predicted the stock-market boom of the last half of that decade. Through his many television appearances, he is well-known to investors for his insightful analysis and his candid, unpretentious style.

Bottom line: Pat’s conservative, reduced-risk strategy is a proven approach to safe investing.

Posts by the author
A conservative, step-by-step Canadian guide: account choice, W-8BEN, FX cost cuts, first trade, and DRIP, built for steady dividend income.
TELUS $42.03 (Toronto symbol T; Shares outstanding: 615.0 million; Market cap: $25.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.8%; www.telus.com) added 113,000 wireless subscribers, net of cancellations, in the three months ended September 30, 2014, up 8.7% from a year earlier. It now has 8.0 million wireless users and continues to attract high-speed Internet and digital TV subscribers, as well.

As a result, Telus’s revenue rose 5.4%, to $3.0 billion from $2.9 billion. Earnings gained 6.0%, to $387 million from $365 million.

Telus spent $164 million on share buybacks in the latest quarter, so its per-share earnings rose 10.3%, to $0.64 from $0.58.

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MANULIFE FINANCIAL $22.93 (Toronto symbol MFC; Shares outstanding: 1.9 billion; Market cap: $42.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 2.7%; www.manulife.ca) sells life and other forms of insurance, as well as mutual funds and investment management services.

In the three months ended September 30, 2014, Manulife’s earnings per share gained 8.3%, to $0.39 from $0.36 a year earlier. Revenue rose 7.4%, to $9.5 billion from $8.8 billion, on strong sales of insurance and wealth management products in Asia.

As of September 30, Manulife had $663 billion of assets under management. After the quarter ended, it bought U.K.-based Standard Life’s Canadian insurance operations for $4 billion. In all, Standard Life has about 2,000 employees across Canada, along with 1.4 million clients and $52.0 billion of assets under management.

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SUN LIFE FINANCIAL $43.15 (Toronto symbol SLF; Shares outstanding: 611.6 million; Market cap: $25.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.3%; www.sunlife.ca) sells life insurance, savings, retirement and pension products to individuals and corporations.

The company has $698.2 billion of assets under management. It mainly operates in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., but it continues to expand into Asia.

In August 2013, Sun Life sold its riskier, money-losing U.S. annuity business, which offers products that guarantee minimum long-term returns even if markets fall.

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RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $26.85 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 307.8 million; Market cap: $8.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.3%; www.riocan.com) continues to open new shopping malls and, with partners, mixeduse properties with office and residential space. The trust is also selling off less profitable properties.

In the third quarter of 2014, RioCan’s net leasable area shrank by 2.5%, to 71.6 million square feet from 73.5 million a year earlier.

But thanks to strong demand from retailers, it’s renewing leases at higher rental rates. That’s why its cash flow rose 7.4% in the latest quarter, to $131 million from $122 million. Cash flow per unit gained 5.0%, to $0.42 from $0.40, on more units outstanding. RioCan’s revenue rose 10.0%, to $296 million from $269 million.

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ISHARES AUSTRALIA INDEX FUND $23.48 (New York symbol EWA; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that holds the 79 largest Australian stocks. Its MER is 0.48%.

The fund’s top holdings include Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 11.7%; Westpac Banking Corp., 9.1%; BHP Billiton, 8.5%; Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, 7.9%; National Australia Bank, 6.9%; Wesfarmers, 4.2%; CSL Ltd., 3.6%; Woolworths, 3.5%; Woodside Petroleum, 2.3%; Rio Tinto, 2.2%; Telstra Group, 2.2%, and Scentre Group, 1.7%; and Westfield Group, 1.5%.

Australia benefits from its stable banking and political systems. It is also rich in natural resources and close to key Asian markets with vast potential, including India and China.

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SPDR S&P CHINA ETF $79.29 (New York symbol GXC; buy or sell through brokers; www.spdrs.com) aims to track the S&P China BMI Index, which is made up of all publicly traded Chinese stocks available to foreign investors. Right now, the fund holds 307 stocks.

The $1.0-billion fund’s top holdings are Tencent Holdings, 7.7%; China Mobile, 6.2%; Baidu, 6.1%; China Construction Bank, 5.7%; Industrial & Commercial Bank, 5.1%; Bank of China, 3.3%; China Life Insurance, 2.4%; CNOOC Ltd., 2.1%; PetroChina, 2.1%; and China Petroleum & Chemical, 1.9%.

The ETF was launched on March 19, 2007. It has a 0.59% MER and yields 2.5%.

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ISHARES MSCI EMERGING MARKETS EASTERN EUROPE INDEX FUND $19.30 (New York symbol ESR; buy or sell through brokers) has 65.6% ofits assets invested in Russia, followed by Poland at 27.2%; Czech Republic, 3.6%; and Hungary, 3.2%.

The fund’s top holdings are Gazprom (Russia: gas utility), 14.1%; Lukoil (Russia: oil), 9.8%; Sberbank (Russia: bank), 6.2%; Magnit PJSC (Russia: retailing), 6.2%; MMC Norilsk Nickel (Russia: mining), 3.3%; PKO Bank Polski (Poland: banking), 4.1%; and Novatek (Russia: natural gas), 3.6%.

iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Eastern Europe Index Fund’s expense ratio is 0.67%.

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ISHARES MSCI BRAZIL INDEX FUND $39.87 (New York symbol EWZ; buy or sell through brokers) is an ETF that is designed to track the Brazilian stock market.

Its top holdings are Cia Itau Unibanco Holding (banking), 9.2%; Petrobras (oil and gas), 8.1%; Banco Brandesco SA, 7.9%; AmBev (beer and beverages), 7.5%; Vale do Rio Doce (mining), 5.8%; BRF SA (food), 4.3%; and Cielo SA (payment processor), 3.3%.

The ETF was launched on July 10, 2000. It has a 0.61% expense ratio.

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FORTIS INC. $38 (www.fortisinc.com) earned $14 million in the three months ended September 30, 2014, down 70.8% from $48 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings fell at a faster rate of 73.9%, to $0.06 from $0.23, on more shares outstanding. The drop is mainly due to unusual costs related to the company’s recent $4.5 billion U.S....